By Tasnim News Agency
The death toll from Afghanistan’s most devastating earthquake in years has risen sharply to more than 1,400, officials confirmed Tuesday, with thousands more injured as rescuers battle blocked mountain roads and treacherous terrain to reach cut-off villages.
At least 1,411 people have been confirmed dead, 3,124 injured, and more than 5,400 homes destroyed, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid announced. The Afghan Red Crescent Society warned that many more victims may still be trapped under collapsed mud-brick houses. The United Nations coordinator in Afghanistan cautioned that the toll could climb further.
Adding to the crisis, a magnitude 5.2 tremor struck eastern Afghanistan later in the day, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Its epicentre was recorded 34 kilometres northeast of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province. The earlier quake—a magnitude 6.0 jolt—hit around midnight Sunday at a depth of 10 km, with Kunar and Nangarhar provinces suffering the heaviest damage.
Rescue operations initially concentrated on four villages in Kunar before shifting focus to isolated highland communities, said provincial disaster management chief Ehsanullah Ehsan. “We cannot precisely predict how many bodies remain buried under the debris,” he told AFP. “Our aim is to complete rescue operations quickly and then move to delivering aid.”
Emergency teams worked through the night, though many injured villagers still await evacuation. Local residents joined in, digging through rubble with their bare hands. Obaidullah Stoman, 26, who travelled to Wadir village to search for a missing friend, was shaken by the devastation. “I didn’t see him here. It was very difficult for me to see the conditions—there is only rubble left,” he said.
Bodies, including those of children, were shrouded in white cloth and buried in traditional ceremonies. But access to some of the worst-hit areas remains blocked, the UN migration agency reported. Mountain passes, narrow roads, and poor weather hampered efforts to deliver supplies and evacuate the wounded.
On Tuesday, ambulances lined damaged roads in Kunar while helicopters ferried aid and airlifted casualties to hospitals, according to a Reuters eyewitness. Many of the seriously injured were transferred to Kabul and Nangarhar facilities, provincial officials said.
UNICEF warned that thousands of children were among those at risk, announcing shipments of tents, warm clothing, medical supplies, hygiene kits, and tarpaulins. Taliban security forces were deployed for relief efforts, while UN officials said urgent measures were underway to prevent water contamination from animal carcasses in quake-hit areas.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said more than 12,000 people had been directly affected, stressing that Afghanistan’s fragile health system—already overstretched before the disaster—was “completely overwhelmed” and reliant on outside assistance.
Aid agencies said food and tents were in desperate demand as families left homeless sheltered in the open, fearful of aftershocks. “People are living in the open, without roofs, in cold weather,” said Safiullah Noorzai of humanitarian platform Aseel.
International aid response
The disaster has struck a country already battered by decades of conflict, widespread poverty, and a severe funding squeeze since the Taliban takeover in 2021. US financial support—the largest aid stream until early 2025—was mostly cut after President Donald Trump assumed office, compounding the humanitarian crisis.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres pledged an initial $5 million in relief funds on Monday, saying the organisation was working with authorities to “swiftly assess needs, provide emergency assistance and stand ready to mobilise additional support.”
Pakistan, Afghanistan’s neighbour, quickly pledged assistance. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed condolences, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur ordered the dispatch of medicines and offered medical staff for deployment. Adviser Mohammad Ali Saif said provincial hospitals were open to Afghan victims and promised tents, food, and relief teams.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar also phoned his Afghan counterpart Amir Khan Muttaqi to convey solidarity and support. Meanwhile, the UK pledged £1 million through the UN and Red Cross, and India announced the delivery of 1,000 tents along with 15 tonnes of food supplies to Kunar.
China, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, and the European Union have also pledged support, though most international aid is still en route.
History of deadly quakes
Afghanistan sits on a seismically active fault line, where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide. The Hindu Kush range frequently experiences strong earthquakes.
In October 2023, Herat province was struck by a 6.3-magnitude quake that killed more than 1,500 people and destroyed or damaged over 63,000 homes. In June 2022, a 5.9-magnitude quake in Paktika killed more than 1,000 and left tens of thousands homeless.
The latest disaster, coming amid aftershocks and aid shortfalls, underscores the acute vulnerability of Afghanistan’s mountain communities and the growing challenge of disaster response in a nation isolated from much of the global aid system.
